SOUTH BEND – J.D. Carney never saw the playing field during Saturday’s Blue-Gold Game, but he was still the busiest Notre Dame football player to suit up that day.

Late in the second quarter, the fourth-string quarterback and sideline signal caller handed off his headset, walked over to position coach Tom Rees and let him know he was leaving. It was time to activate Operation Gatsby.

“It was just kind of discreet,” Carney said. “I just snuck out of there.”

The preferred walk-on sophomore from San Diego, due across campus for his supporting role in a stage production of “The Great Gatsby,” left with Rees’ blessing after clearing the audacious plan with the coaching staff.

“(Rees) was like, ‘Good luck, man. Go get it,’“ Carney said.

Notre Dame quarterback J.D. Carney in his role as Tom Buchanan in a campus production of 'The Great Gatsby'(Photo: Courtesy Peter Ringenberg, Notre Dame Film, Television, and Theatre)

After hurriedly changing out of his football gear in the home locker at Notre Dame Stadium, Carney hopped in a golf cart with one of the student managers and made the short trip over to the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.

“We zoomed over, and I went right into the act,” he said.

Son of mid-1980s Notre Dame kicker John Carney, who flew in for the weekend along with his wife Holly and several extended family members, J.D. Carney was cast as the loutish Tom Buchanan in the six-show project. Carney left the field with so little fanfare, one of his uncles later remarked to him he didn’t even notice his departure.

Charging into the dressing room at the Decio Theatre an hour before Saturday’s 2:30 matinee – with a 7:30 performance to follow that evening – Carney was remarkably composed. Not long after trading deep outs with fellow backup quarterback Phil Jurkovec during pregame warmups, Carney was able to flip the switch.

“I said, ‘Are you ready for the show? I’m sure you had a long morning,’“ said Teagan Earley, who plays Daisy Buchanan, Tom’s wife. “And he said, ‘Yep, I’m ready to go.’"

His castmates never had any doubt.

“I genuinely had no concerns,” Earley said. “i knew he would be here and he would be ready. He was such a unique, positive energy to have in the room. He never had an off day where his energy was low or he was tired from the day before. He just always came in 100% ready to win it.”

Director Anton Juan said he, too, was never worried about the challenging logistics.

“That was his warmup, so to speak,” Juan said with a laugh. “He was very powerful. No loss of energy whatsoever. He was bigger. His voice was bigger. And they were even better on Saturday night.”

PERFECT ROLE

The story of how Carney came to be cast in his Notre Dame acting debut is yet another reminder of the randomness of student life.

A budding film director in the department of Film, Television and Theatre, he attended the first day of auditions in early February merely in support of younger sister Kiki, a freshman at St. Mary’s College. When she got a callback for the role of Mrs. Michaelis, which she eventually landed, she asked her brother to return with her the following day. He didn’t hesitate.

When he passed Juan in the atrium during a break, the renowned director, playwright and Notre Dame professor was immediately struck by Carney’s physical appearance. Though listed at just 5-10 and 178 pounds, Carney’s muscular build was right out of central casting for Tom, the ex-Yale football player with anger issues.

“J.D. has a very strong presence, you see, a very bright aura about him,” Juan said. “When I saw him the first time, I said, ‘Did you come here for auditions?’ He said no, and I said, ‘Why are you not auditioning? Go inside.’"

Having acted in “Bye-Bye Birdie” with his sister as junior at Cathedral Catholic High School, Carney wasn’t a complete beginner. Both kids had been in numerous youth theater productions along the way, although football eventually came to dominate his spare time.

It also helped that Carney was so familiar with the Gatsby story, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s enduring tale of Long Island socialites set in 1922. One of his high school birthday parties included a swing-dance instructor, and he made sure to dress up in a Roaring Twenties suit, fake pencil mustache and all, for a Gatsby-themed dance at Notre Dame.

“All my friends back home know how much ‘The Great Gatsby’ has been a big part of our lives,” Carney said. “I don’t think this would have been able to happen if it wasn’t ‘The Great Gatsby.’ “

Juan handed Carney a copy of the book and sent him back out into the hallway for a different sort of two-minute warning.

“I went outside, looked over some of the lines and then I just did a cold read in front of him,” Carney said. “I tried to get a big, passionate Tom Buchanan.”

He got the part.

STAYING IN CHARACTER

Two months of grueling rehearsals followed, interrupted only by spring break. The cast would meet five or six nights a week, starting at 6:30 and often running as late as 10 or 11 p.m.

Carney made sure to clear the plan with the football coaching staff. Somehow Carney managed to juggle all his responsibilities, including 15 spring practices that began in early March.

The show premiered April 10 at the 350-seat theater. Carney wasn’t sure who would show up from his football life to support him, but when the floodlights went up the entire front row was filled with his fellow quarterbacks along with Rees and even a few of the tight ends.

“We had the whole Red Army,” Carney said, using the position nickname that comes from those red jerseys meaning Do Not Touch. “It was awesome seeing them the entire show.”

Challenging, too.

“It was hilarious, trying not to lose character, making eye contact with them,” Carney said. “There was a moment where I made them lose it. I kept my concentration on them and then I got back in the scene.”

Notre Dame quarterback J.D. Carney (center) plays the role of Tom Buchanan in a recent campus production of "The Great Gatsby"(Photo: Courtesy Peter Ringenberg, Notre Dame Film, Television, and Theatre)

Gabriel Krut, a fellow San Diegan who starred as Jay Gatsby, wondered about some of the vocal reactions up front during the opening act. A crew member explained it to him during the intermission.

“Someone said, ‘Hey, all those guys who were laughing and cheering every time J.D. comes on, those are all the football guys,’" Krut said. “That was terrific. I did not anticipate that amount of support, so that was really exciting to see. That was awesome.”

Carney’s biggest concern was how his teammates or girlfriend Lia Acri would react to seeing him spout some of Tom’s hate- and booze-fueled lines or knock his mistress, Myrtle Wilson, to the ground with his fist.

“Tom is in so much contrast to my own character,” Carney said. “There have been people in my life that I know and can recognize that just kind of have that alpha male (personality) and those vices, just being conceited. I was able to take the times I’d experienced that from other people and pull that into the character and just have a blast with that and show my full passion.”

Juan appreciated the thought Carney put into his role and tried to set him at ease when Carney raised the fear that some of his lines might offend his teammates, especially those of color.

“That just goes to show that there is both an inner space and an external space about him,” Juan said. “He has very strong soul, and he’s a hard-working actor. He researches. He asks questions. He was able to discuss with me the idea of white supremacy.”

Juan has cast a few Irish football players in prior stage productions, including former wide receiver Corey Robinson and former cornerback KeiVarae Russell, but he says Carney now ranks near the top of the list. Russell, now in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals, had the lead role for "Intimate Apparel" a few years back.

“Since I needed somebody who is well built to play Tom, I said, ‘Why don’t you try it?’ “ the director said. “And I did not make a mistake.”

'CARNEYS NEVER QUIT'

That the Carney kids would bring unique poise to the stage shouldn’t be a surprise. Their father, after all, remains No. 5 on the school’s career scoring list and spent 23 seasons kicking in the NFL, including two Pro Bowl selections and a Super Bowl ring with the 2009 New Orleans Saints.

“I think that poise flows into acting,” Kiki Carney said. “In the perseverance and the dedication that a kicker has to put into their work and their career, actors have to do the same. (You’re) performing for a stadium or performing for an auditorium.”

J.D. Carney often reminds his sister to “Enjoy the process,” mimicking the mantra of Fighting Irish football coach Brian Kelly. John Carney had a saying of his own, one that helped his over-scheduled kids make it through these past two months.

Bowing out and blaming football might have been an option for some, but not in this case.

“There were points in this journey that it wasn’t easy,” Kiki said. “Both of us had to stay up late. We had to pull all-nighters to get all our homework done or the lines weren’t sticking in our brains. There were definitely bumps in the road, but that motto of our dad’s and so many qualities and characteristics that (our parents) instilled upon us really are what keeps us going.”

Krut, who had never acted opposite a football player before, could tell quickly the unconventional casting was going to click.

“We obviously have a lot of altercations, if you will,” Krut said. “We have some physical engagement on stage. The script describes Tom as ‘a man with a cruel and powerful body,’ and so being able to take someone who’s been wearing pads and hitting people for a number of years is probably a good way to get someone to fit that bill.”

As for future acting roles, J.D. said he’s open to the idea but will make sure next time it doesn’t interfere with spring practice. His sister believes he’s hooked.

“I think he did amazing,” she said. “He definitely surprised me and surprised, I feel like, so many people because he’s been out of the acting scene for so long. I feel like he just won everybody over with his stage presence and his confidence and his acting skills, really. It was awesome to see. I was really proud of him.”